How to draw DOLLPIN

The last couple of weeks I’ve been intrigued by this radial-style of tangle and thus we’ve had Su-sy and Sporez, and now DollPin.

This easy, pretty DollPin tangle comes to us from Duisburg, Germany, tangler Jutta Gladnigg and it’s her second tangle on the site.

Last year Jutta shared her background and her SoDeceiving tangle with us, both inspired by a walk in the park!

She describes her inspiration for DollPin:

When I was going for a walk around Duisburg Regatta Course [see SoDeceiving for more on this reference] a ‘flying object’ painted onto the side of a delivery van caught my eyes and led me to this pattern.

I call it ‘DollPin’ because when deconstructing ‘DollPin’ its final shape reminded me of those beautiful wooden clothes pins of times gone by.

And then I remembered still having a real wooden doll pin at home. I searched some boxes in my study and there it was… I once had painted it in order to attach it to my shirt as a name tag in seminars.

“Furry John wanted to test his strength and lift it so that people might have a better look at it… Furry John is a little character/creature that I have created.”

So it’s funny how things from the past sometimes return and even take the form of a pattern.

DollPin is very easy to draw in 4 steps. With steps 5-6 one can easily turn it into an organic (flower-)shape.

It creates a 3D-effect and can be filled with other patterns and/or arranged in lots of different ways.

DollPin comes together in just 4 strokes and then shading really gives it form and dimension. As you’ll see in Jutta’s examples, its main motif can be used in a number of ways it’s not limited to the radial style I chose to use for my example.

Jutta illustrates the step-by-step instructions for drawing DollPin below and demonstrates it in three different Zentangle tiles.

Image copyright the artist and used with permission, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Please feel free to refer to the steps images to recreate this tangle in your personal Zentangles and ZIAs, or to link back to this page. However the artist and TanglePatterns.com reserve all rights to these images and they must not be publicly pinned, reproduced or republished. They are for your personal reference only. Thank you for respecting these rights. Click the image for an article explaining copyright in plain English.

In this lovely white-on-black Zentangle tile, Jutta features DollPin with the Zentangle-original Tipple.

And her third tile demonstrates DollPin with the Zentangle-original Florz and CZT Katharina Königsbauer-Kolb’s Frunky.

As you enjoy any of the tangles on the site, please leave a comment of thanks and encouragement to show the artists you appreciate them for sharing their creativity to inspire yours.

Check out the tag juttag for more of Jutta’s tangles on TanglePatterns.com.

Related Links

Linda's List of Zentangle-Original Patterns — here is the complete list of original tangles (aka "official tangles") created and introduced by founders Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas, including those not published online. If you are new to the Zentangle Method I highly recommend learning a few of the published Zentangle classics first.

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YAY! A tangle pattern I can’t mess up! This is a fun one, and in the sense of humor with which I’ve approached it, I’d like to share that Jutta’s “Furry John” reminds me very much of the drawings of Mark Kistler and his “Furble” creatures. I learned a lot about drawing from Mark’s books, though I still am not at his caliber of skill; nonetheless, the Furbles are fun little critters to emulate, and Furry John made me smile, reminding me of the many happy hours I spent 30 years ago drawing with “Commander Mark.”

I love this tangle because I too have made these little dolls out of the old clothespins. I draw a similar character to your Furry John, but mine is called Gzorpe. Not exactly sure where mine came from, but I have been drawing it as long as I can remember. Commander Mark Kistler was one of my son’s favorite shows and we used to watch it together all the time. It sparked his interest in art and we got all of Mark’s books for him. Thanks for the wonderful memories, and thank you to Linda for adding it here. Wonderful little tangle!

Thank you so much, dear Jody! One of the moments I won’t ever forget. Sitting there in that beautiful Art Déco interior and tangling DollPin in the evening together with you and our friends… What a marvelous time we had! It feels like it happened yesterday. Can recall each minute…

Thanks for a fun tangle and so loved the Furry John as reminded me of a couple of different furry critter people I drew 45+ years ago while still in college studying art. What fun reminders of my furry critters and the old doll pins as well.

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